Third District supervisors meet in candidate program

MASON CITY — The Third District candidates for the Cerro Gordo County Board of Supervisors met for a candidate program last night that was live-streamed on our news website, northiowanow.com. Incumbent Democrat Lori Meacham Ginapp is being challenged by Republican Carl Ginapp.

Lori Meacham Ginapp says her long-time experience working in the courthouse makes her the best candidate on the ballot. “I believe that I have the knowledge and experience that goes along with this job. Working in the auditor’s office for 16 years gave me the understanding of the real estate, the elections, the drainage districts. I also worked closely with the recorder’s office, the assessor’s office, dealing with the real estate. As we know, when you’re at a job for a long time, there are ways around to know how to speak like the language, to ask the questions to get the answers that you need.”

Meacham Ginapp says she is either able to answer people’s questions or point them the right place to get those questions answered.  “I know where to go to get those answers, how to get those questions, where to send people instead of them having to go to several different spots before they are directed to the correct spot.”

Carl Ginapp says as a lifelong resident of Cerro Gordo County with three decades of community service, recently retiring as the deputy chief of the Mason City Fire Department, he says he developed a skill set that has prepared him to be a county supervisor.  “As a firefighter/paramedic, I learned how to make split-second decisions and handle myself with the public in a positive and professional manner. As a shift lieutenant, I developed personnel management skills and conflict resolution both internally and externally. As a training officer, I developed and delivered training to all city employees to meet OSHA standards for safety and security. As a chief officer, I prepared budgets. I had to base these off revenue streams.”

Ginapp says his experience as deputy chief has prepared him to deal with crisis situations.   “When I started the deputy chief position which gave me the authority to oversee all expenditures, revenue and that such, it was right before COVID happened. So I did this during a very volatile time, and that really prepared me for adversity when there’s conflict and all the different things that happened with COVID.”

 The Third District includes all of Mason City’s First Ward; the second and third precincts of the Second Ward; the first precinct of the Fourth Ward; as well as the communities of Rock Falls and Plymouth and the Falls and Lime Creek-Mason North townships.